Slasher
Slashers are the most common form of Necromorphs encountered in the Dead Space Universe. Overview The Slasher's main weapons are blades attached in various configurations to a set of distended arms that protrude at an angle from each shoulder. Several variations of the Slasher also possess a pair of smaller arms located on the abdomen. They attack through pure melee combat, charging at their targets to initiate close combat. They are also capable of grappling prey with their limbs, giving their powerful jaws easy access to an opponents upper body. The Female Slasher variant is unique in that she is, in addition to possessing the aforementioned melee abilities, able to shoot small, volatile spheres of matter at short distances. Though they tend to roam and hunt in packs, lone Slashers have been observed to remain motionless and silent, waiting for prey to come within striking distance before they attack. Slashers also have a habit of feigning death, (Usually when they are decapitated) only to rise up and continue the onslaught when their attacker moves closer to them or turns away. They are capable of limited locomotion even with both of their legs missing, dragging themselves along with their remaining limbs. Some legless Slashers have also been observed, presumably created from corpses with missing legs or Slashers whose legs were removed in previous attacks on the uninfected. A strange thing about Slashers is their legs have been contorted into a bizarre new limb, which takes the place of their host's foot. The original legs can still be seen if you kill a Slasher, sticking out of the back of their new legs. Slashers are easily recognized by their distinctive appearance and their loping and flailing gait when running, both of which also give them a distinctive shadow. Variants Male One of the most common types of Necromorphs encountered, they brandish their blades and charge towards their victims en masse as their primary means of inflicting casualties. The nature of the victim determines, to a degree, the appearance of this particular Necromorph. The weakest and most common Male Slashers are created from the corpses of civilians. Their limbs are spindly and easily dismembered, though they are one of the faster Slasher variants, third only to Enhanced Slashers and Twitchers in their charge speed. Slashers that were formerly engineering personnel can be seen wearing the remains of their overalls. They have a slower charge but are slightly more resilient to damage. In contrast to this, Slashers made out of Hydroponic workers have limbs that are easier to remove, but require more dismemberment than other Slashers. Finally, security personnel that have fallen prey to Necromorph infection have the remains of an armoured uniform covering their legs, making them very resilient to leg dismemberment. This, combined with their tendency to charge early, makes these variants especially dangerous. Female In contrast to the Male Slasher, Females only possess a single set of arms and their blades are always located on the palms of each hand. They also maintain the green uniform of their female hosts, as well as the general shape of their breasts. This gives them a slightly more distinctive, human-like appearance, and makes it easier to differentiate these variants from others. The blades of the females slasher are also slightly larger than those of the male. Female Slashers are not as prone to charge as the other variants, as they possess the ability to spit, at range, miniature organic bombs that explode on contact. Enhanced Enhanced Slashers are created when an Infector injects a corpse with the Necromorph contagion. They are physically similar to the Male Slasher, though they are darker in appearance and possess glowing eyes. Enhanced Slashers are stronger, faster and more aggressive than their common counterparts. Their melee capabilities combined with sudden bursts of speed makes these Slashers formidable opponents when they catch their victims up close and in numbers. The first enhanced Slasher Isaac encounters is in Chapter 2: Intensive Care at the Morgue, which also happens to be what was formerly the corpse of the Ishimura's Captain, Benjamin Matthius. The flamethrower seems decently effective against them, but stay back; they can deal some serious damage, even on the Easy difficulty, easily taking out half of Isaac's health in a short flurry of attacks. Twitcher These Slasher variants are created primarily from the corpses of Marines stationed aboard the USM Valor. Unlike other Necromorphs, Twitchers can survive without their arms. Twitchers are made unique by what their host body is; a trained soldier equipped with a stasis module. As a result, these "twitcher" variants are physically powerful and incredibly fast, moving in a rapid, jarring manner. Hunter The Hunter is a unique Necromorph that was biologically engineered by Doctor Challus Mercer on the Ishimura. It is larger and more powerful that the other Slasher variants and is able to regenerate lost limbs in mere seconds, making it an extreme threat. Monk Former Unitology clergy from The Church of Unitology on The Sprawl. They are still dressed in their Unitoligist garb, giving them their name. The religious fashion the way the former human hands of the creature are tied together suggest that the former human Unitologist became a Necromorph willingly. The Monk Slasher's body structure is basically identical to that of other Slashers, though there are some glaring differences. Monk Slashers are bulkier that most Slashers with extra protrusions armed with scythes jutting from the shoulders rather than the arms being bent into the Necromorph's weapons. Another big difference setting the Monk Slasher apart from others is the creature's face. The skin on the face is peeled into small tendrils that flower out. These Slashers' blades can be used as weapons against them, such as being torn off and used to impale them against a wall. Strategy Slashers seem to be the bread and butter enemy in Dead Space. Players can deal with them in several ways such as chop their legs off or dismember their arms. Against two or more of them you can consider using a crowd control weapon like a Line gun when you clump them together. Dead Space Slashers have a wide variety of responses depending on which body parts are severed. *A Slasher dies immediately after losing both arms. *When a leg is severed, the Slasher's mobility is severely hindered, making it an easier target. However, it is also easier to lose track of it amidst obstacles and corpses. *Decapitation does not kill the Slasher. If standing, then the Slasher will walk slowly in your direction while swinging its blades, but its behavior may return to normal in a few seconds. If crawling, then it will not be affected unless the damage was enough to kill it. Female slashers cannot use their projectile attack upon decapitation, but simply killing the Slasher before it can do this is more practical. *The Slasher sometimes feigns death after being dismembered, and will attack when you turn your back, get near it, or damage it. If a Slasher feigns death and you have the kinesis module, then you should have time to find a sharp object (e.g. a severed Slasher blade) with which to kill it in order to conserve ammo. To identify a deceptive Slasher: **Look for an item drop. Not all Slashers drop an item upon death, but only dead ones can. **Use kinesis on the body. A Slasher is dead if and only if you can pick it up or dismember it with kinesis. **Observe their body upon dismemberment. A dead Slasher will simply rag-doll, but a live one will display a death animation. The pose is identical for all Slashers who feign death. *When you encounter the body of a Slasher lying on the floor, determine whether it is dead by using kinesis on it or shooting one of its limbs. If it is alive, then it will attack when Isaac gets too close. *Some Slashers, instead of charging straight towards you, will instead leap into a nearby vent (where they aren't exposed to danger), travel to a vent closer to you and burst out of it. Be wary of the location of vents in a room with multiple Slashers; stay away from them and listen for persistent bumping sounds in the ventilation system. *The Slasher will try to sneak up on you when it is behind you. If you turn around to see them, then they will charge. Use the movable camera view to prevent a stealthy attack. *When a Slasher is about to attack you, stasis can be used to slow them down. If a Slasher is charging and you don't want to miss your shot, use stasis. Some Slashers have armor on their legs, so if they have blue pants, you can use stasis to more easily target their arms. Dead Space: Extraction *Slashers generally behave the same in Extraction. The same general rules apply to killing them as in Dead Space. However, there are some notable facts that are worth knowing: **Cutting off both arms is still an instant-kill. **Cutting off one or both legs will cause it to crawl at you. However, they now tend to require both arms to be shot off while crawling, instead of the original game, where they usually died after having just one blown off. **Melee is even less effective now. The unlimited ammo Rivet Gun is much more useful. Trivia *In the animated movie Dead Space: Downfall, the creation of male Slashers is the same in comparison to their creation in the game. However, in the movie, the Infectors never seem to produce enhanced slashers, only normal civilian slashers. Male Slashers in the movie have the blades burst directly out of the palms of their hands while a new pair of grabbing claws burst out from the abdomen. Some of the male Slashers in the game have the blades coming out of their palms like the movie depicts them, yet the movie does not show other variants of standard slashers created, that simply have their hand and arm tissue fuse into the blade; like engineer, security, or enhanced slashers. *It is interesting to note that in Dead Space 2, a slasher seen in the Dementia trailer has it's Shirt and Pants still on. It also appears smaller overall and has a more human-like body. *Since Dead Space 2 is set on a space station (sprawl) the Slashers will more likely have a different appearence of clothes, pants, body form, etc. *A Slasher is normally the first type of Necromorph encountered in any Dead Space story. Death Scenes *The Slasher grabs Isaac with its limbs and latches onto his neck with its jaws. If the action sequence is succeeded, Isaac will push the Slasher away and punch its head off with his weapon. This is not a guaranteed kill unless the Slasher is heavily damaged. Should the action sequence fail, the Slasher decapitates Isaac and throws his corpse to the ground before proceeding to gnaw on his headless body. *If Isaac is killed by a slashers down slash, it will split him in half, while the camera looks at the legs. Appearances *''Dead Space'' *''Dead Space (Comics)'' *''Dead Space: Downfall'' *''Dead Space: Extraction'' *''Dead Space: Extraction (Comics)'' *''Dead Space 2'' Gallery File:Dead Space Ripper.jpg|Isaac battles Slashers File:Slasher concept.jpg|Concept Art File:Slasher01.jpg|Early version of the Slasher File:Surrounded.jpg|Isaac is surrounded by Slashers File:Slashers dismembered.jpg|Isaac faces a group of Slashers File:Dismembering limbs.jpg|Isaac dismembers Slashers File:Playing dead.jpg|A "dead" Slasher File:dead-space-20080207094221682-000.jpg|Slashers are resistant to having their heads smashed. File:DeadSpace2Dementia - Slasher.png|The Slasher seen in Dead Space 2's Dementia trailer. File:Dslasher.png|A Slasher with remnants of the P.C.S.I SEC RIG. File:Uni_Slasher.jpg|A Monk Slasher approaches Isaac from behind concept_uni_slasher.jpg|Concept art of the Monk Slasher from EA's Dead Space 2 website Sources Category:Necromorphs